NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After an historic 2013 season, the Lipscomb women’s soccer team has announced its schedule for the 2014 season.

"We are very excited to announce our 2014 schedule," said coach Kevin O’Brien. "We promised our incoming recruits that we would improve our scheduling and give them marquee teams to compete against, and I’m happy to say that we’ve done that this year.”

O’Brien is entering his third season in charge of the Lady Bisons while his coaching staff is bringing its second recruiting class to Nashville.

The Lady Bisons will play strong and diverse opposition from the PAC 12, SEC, AAC, Conference USA, and WAC conferences.

Four teams finished 2013 ranked in the top 100 nationally and 13 teams on the schedule were ranked higher than Lipscomb last season.

"We did it in the spring with great games against the University of Tennessee and Kentucky, and we’ll do it again this fall and for years to come,” O’Brien said. "Our vision is to be a top program that can compete against anyone in the country.”

The Lady Bisons kick off the season Friday Aug. 22 when they host Western Kentucky and then Alabama A&M on Sunday Aug. 24.

The team’s first away competition of the season will be against the Memphis Tigers on Tues. Aug. 26. The girls will be back in Nashville to vie with Middle Tennessee before heading to Clarksville to go toe-to-toe with Austin Peay.

Western Carolina will travel to Nashville for a Sept. 5 meeting with the Lady Bisons. After taking on the Catamount, the girls will continue their run through the state facing off with Chattanooga Sept. 7.

Following their match with UTC, the Lady Bisons will travel down the road to take on Vanderbilt Sept. 12.

“Ultimately it’s about peaking and playing great soccer come A-Sun conference time,” O’Brien said. “These matches undoubtedly will prepare us well as we seek to take another step forward towards a conference championship.

“We’ll never grow into the team we are capable of being if we do not challenge ourselves against top programs.”

The final home match before conference play will see the team contend with Samford on Sunday Sept. 14. The Lady Bisons will then trek to Phoenix, Arizona to battle the Arizona Wildcats on Sept. 19 and then the Grand Canyon University Antelopes Sept. 21.

The squad begins conference competition with a three-game homestead hosting Kennesaw State Sept. 27 followed by North Florida Oct. 3 and the defending A-Sun champions the Jacksonville Dolphins Oct. 5.

The team will journey to Florida to take on Stetson Oct. 10 and then Florida Gulf Coast Oct. 12. The Lady Bisons will then wrap up their final away game Oct. 17 when they play USC Upstate.

The girls will bring their final competition of the regular season back to Nashville as they host Northern Kentucky.